Yahoo CEO Left Google For $71 Million

SUNNYVALE, Calif. (CBSMiami) – In all the speculation about why Marissa Mayer left Google to take the job at Yahoo, no one has suggested she’s doing it for the money. After all, the former Googler — who was employee No. 20 — is worth an estimated $300 million.

Even so, Yahoo is paying up, with a package that could add up to tens of millions of dollars if she turns around the struggling Internet pioneer and the stock heads north, according to Yahoo’s SEC filling.

Yahoo revealed that it will pay Mayer an annual salary of $1 million. She will also be eligible for an annual bonus with a “target amount of 200 percent of base salary” — which is $2 million — that will be tied to Mayer’s performance and the financial performance of the company.

She will receive an equity award for 2012 of $12 million in stock and options that vest over three years. Her restricted stock will be granted on July 26, so she should hope that’s a bad day in the market so her stock will be priced low. Along with other senior execs, she’ll be eligible for annual stock grants ever year year.

Mayer, 37, also negotiated a deal to make up for what she’s leaving on the table at Google — a “make-whole” stock payment valued at $14 million. That is also in the form of restricted stock that will vest over the next 2 1/2 years.

Here’s the really sweet part: Mayer is receiving a one-time retention award of $30 million in stock and options that will vest over five years.

Yahoo just appointed Mayer on Monday, after passing over interim CEO Ross Levinsohn. The company had been searching for someone to fill the top job since Scott Thompson was forced out in May for padding his resume.